I have recently accepted a new position at another company. As part of the new job I'll be required to work directly with clients. In order for me to do this I'll need a notebook that I can take just about anywhere with me. There are so many different brands, models and configuration options to choose from that I almost found it impossible to choose.

The notebook I will need must meet certain pre-defined requirements:

1. be under $3,500AUD 
2. have at least a 17" display
3. have a minimum resolution of 1680x880
4. a minimum of 4 USB 2.0 ports
5. support 4GB of DDR2 memory
6. Wireless Networking support
7. 250GB HDD
8. Vista Ultimate

The above first 6 requirements are MANDATORY as I'll need every one of those to be able to do my work comfortably. As you can see from my list the demands are not that great but would you believe that there are so few notebooks currently on the market that can meet those demands? It's true! Sure there's a wide range of notebooks that meet some of the requirements. But what I need must be in a single notebook and not several notebooks.

I eventually found 3 notebooks that met all of the above requirements and they are the ASUS G2S-A1, HP Pavillion dv9500T and the Dell Inspiron 1720. Now wait, only 3 notebooks? Yes! There were others but they didn't satisfy the first requirement - PRICE!

So, I looked at the ASUS online and it looked really good. I started looking around to find out who would have one so I can place my order. I had heard a lot of good reports from friends that swear by their own ASUS notebooks - I was SOLD!! Then one day I just happened to walk into a department store (David Jones) and there was the model I was after on display. It was a thing of eye-catching beauty ... to someone with a vision impairment. I was horrified at the look and style of the 'sports interior' design that would be more suited to a cheap, no-frills sports car. It was also large in depth but the width was ok. The look and style of this notebook had me rethinking about spending my money on an ASUS. Don't forget, I have to lug this thing out to client sites too. I needed something that was a little more on the conservative side.

The ASUS G2-S with it's 'Sports Interior' didn't appeal to me. Notice also that the keyboard is set way back close to the display, which was another thing I noticed that I didn't like. ASUS has a solid reputation for reliable notebooks and I did take this into account. The reason for not going for the ASUS was purely aesthetics.	The HP dv9500's more elegant design and style is much more appealing. It's quite a bit slimmer than the ASUS and the black/silver design gives it a nice 'retro' look.	Dell's Inspiron 1720 looks a bit bland which is probably why it's available in several different colours. The downside, for me, is that I wasn't able to view the exact model that I was interested in. Besides that, I have decided to go with the Dell purely because of positive after sales service experiences.

However, sitting right next to the ASUS was the HP. It was wider, thinner and the depth was also narrower than the ASUS. It was silver, not black with Red Trimming, and looked neat. I was not turned away from its visual looks so I was off to a better start with the HP. I wasn't convinced yet that I needed to spend my money on an HP until after I had a chance to check out the Dell.

I have to admit that Dell almost completely lost me when I realised that I couldn't actually physically feel, see and try one of their notebooks. I know that Dell have only just released their notebooks to some stores in the U.S. but I'm situated in Australia. It wasn't looking good for Dell. I went back to work the next day feeling like I had not actually achieve my goal in finding a suitable notebook. Sitting on a desk in the server room was a Dell Inspiron notebook that had been brought in to have the display replaced (looks like someone kinda maybe did put their fist through the display while possibly but not conclusively testing the notebook's ability for gaming). The Dell looked neat, small and lightweight. I was impressed. I then found out that one of my fellow peers also has a Dell Inspiron that's just a couple of years old and they've not had any trouble with theirs....'excellent' I thought.

So, I've now seen both the HP and the Dell (although the Dell was not exactly the same model ... but close enough) which one would I choose. It really came down to which company had a better support service. I haven't had any prior experience with HP's after sales service so I'm relying on the feedback given by other people in various forums. I have, however, see the after sales support in action from Dell. Going on the feedback from forum members and my experience with Dell I'm leaning towards Dell. HP users have indicated that their after sales support is not quite up to scratch. Not all HP users were stating this as their experience but a fair majority did.

I'll put my order in for the Dell Inspiron 1720 in Midnight Blue. When I've had a chance to have a play I'll come back to this entry and provide some feedback.

Until then....

December 15, 2007
I have now had an opportunity to see the Dell 1720 first hand. There was a Dell stand in the Westfield at Chatswood where they had one on display in Matte Black (my preferred colour).

The keyboard is nice and feels 'light' to the touch...I'm actually looking forward to getting my hands on mine now!

One thing that I didn't like about the online ordering for Dell is the apparent lack and inability to order a second battery. I was also dissappointed about not being able to include a back-pack carry bag (seems they have sold out and therefore don't offer what they don't have). If you need to order additional batteries then you need to phone Dell with your order.

Aside from the online ordering, I'm keen to get my Dell and so far, reasonably happy that I have made the right choice. I still plan to let you know how things go with the notebook after I have spent some time using it.

January 4, 2008
Finally ordered the notebook last Friday (January 4, 2008). It should arrive in 10-12 working days according to Dell.

I just can't wait! I've been using a loan notebook at work and it's a bit old, slow and has some issues with running Vista. At least I have something to use for the moment.

January 14, 2008
It's HERE!!
My first impression is that the Jet Black doesn't look as good as I imagined...should have stuck with the midnight-blue. Aside from that it's very cool. The screen is clear, bright and awesome. The sound is ok but I haven't begun to check that out completely just yet. The Keyboard has a nice feel to it but alas, I'll be using a wireless keyboard/mouse combo (I prefer a 'real' keyboard any day) like the one I raved about in my post How's the keyboard shaping up?.

I've installed a Vista image that SSW have put together that contains all of the software pre-loaded. This is to reduce the amount of time required to install the many software packages I require to work both on and off site. There's an article about Vista images on the SSW web site titled Do you know the best way to deploy Windows Vista across your organisation that goes into some detail about how to create an image to simplify the deployment of Vista and save huge amounts of time as well.

In fact, SSW have rules for just about everything including project management, software/application development and web site design (and that's just a fraction of the topics that is covered). If you have a project of some kind in progress and would like some rules/guidelines on how to improve on it then I do encourage you to take a look yourself at SSW's Rules.

Well, that's all I have right now until I have a chance to try out my new toy a bit more and give it a good run. I will let you know shortly what I think.

January 30, 2008
I thought it was time to finally tell you what I think about the Inspiron 1720 from Dell. It's a Wee Ripper!

It's been performing without any issues, it's fast, the display and resolution is crisp and as it's name suggests True To Life, the keyboard is real nice and the separate keypad has come in handy on several occasions already. Battery life is not too bad considering the resolution and size of the display and having 2 hard disks. So far I've only had the 1720 on battery for almost 3 hrs and the battery indicator suggested that the battery capacity was down to 42% charge.

If you're considering buying one for yourself then don't let me stop you :) However, there is one minor point that may need to be taken into consideration and that is the dimensions provided on the Dell web site are for a notebook NOT fitted with a 9 cell battery. If you intend to use the 9 cell batteries then add another 25mm to the depth (about 1"). This little oversight on the dimensions can mean the difference between having a carry bag that will be big enough to carry your new notebook to one that is not big enough.

I purchased a backback for my notebook and I based my decision by using the dimensions listed on Dell's web site. Fortunately, the notebook bag that I bought is only just big enough carry my 1720 and it really is only just big enough (that is with the 9 cell battery installed).